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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Guadalupe Peak Trail

Sarah Clark
Community Outreach

SCA AmeriCorps Intern

Guadalupe Mountains

National Park

Guadalupe Peak Trail by Sarah Clark

Mountain tops seem to
hold a special place in men’s minds. Moses came down from the mountain top with
the moral code that has shaped the lives of millions of people for thousands of
years. Native Americans seek their visions among the mountain tops, while Buddhist
monks remain to find nirvana. The mountain top is a symbol of clarity,
knowledge, and enlightenment. The effort and struggles of gaining the peak are
integral to the significance of gaining the summit. No one would say they had
conquered a mountain by flying to the top in a helicopter. No, each step on the
way to the top has its own place and meaning.

The hike to the top of
Guadalupe Peak is no different. As you work your way up the trail the desert
floor falls away; the sounds of the highway gradually fade. Valleys and hills
unfold before you, curving away to join ridge upon ridge, knitted together by
rock and tree. Rounding a corner opens new worlds, as barren hillsides and
sheer cliff faces become mountain slopes covered in pines, only to give way to
the grassy shoulders of the peak. The air, thin enough to give pause as you
switchback your way through the steepest sections of the trail, fills with the
scent of pine. Even with your eyes closed, the air near the peak would tell you
that you are far from the rest of the world. The last scramble to the summit,
full of white fossil rich rocks of a long vanished reef, brings you face to
face with the goal of your long climb. The mountain top is yours. Away below is
the work-a-day world. But here, on the top, the press of everyday affairs is far
away. Whether the first or the hundredth time to the top, the summit brings its
own sense of time and scale to your perspective. As you gradually make your way
back down the trail the headiness of the summit will remain. Distances seem
changed, perspectives reframed. The memory of the view from the top is
contrasted with where you are. Once returned to the base, the moments of
clarity on the mountain top, with only the sky above you, the winds around you,
and all the world below, remain.

This is a free, fun challenge designed to help you set goals by trying new trails in Far West Texas: Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Franklin Mountains State Park! When you hike a trail, you log your miles on the website AND your name is entered into a monthly drawing! Free stuff, fun and adventure! Try it now: www.geobetty.com/peak

Do you know it feels to spend too much time on the couch, hips widening as the years roll by? Or the sting of being picked last for athletic teams in school? Me too. But I also know how it feels to finally get up and get moving, and how that can be the greatest gift you can give yourself. Now a 50-something athlete, I'm accomplished in some endeavors and happy to be at-the-back-of-the-pack in others. It didn't happen overnight, and it took support and advice from friends and motivation from within to get fit. And we're all a work in progress. Want to get off the couch yourself? Start where you are, put one foot in front of the other and move with us!